Report: Google to fold Chrome OS into Android

When Google unveiled the Pixel C running regular Android, it seemed like a shot across the bow of the browser-centric Chrome OS. The Pixel C may be just the beginning of an Android-powered notebook era, if a report from the Wall Street Journal proves true. According to the WSJ's sources, Google plans to combine Chrome OS and Android into a single operating system.

The end of Chrome OS won't come overnight, the paper's sources say. Google is expected to show off an early version of the combined OS sometime in 2016, but a formal unveiling wouldn't happen until 2017. The Journal's sources cite the Pixel C and the availability of some Android apps on Chrome OS as evidence of Google's slow march toward a single operating system.

Why the change? Since Chrome OS accounts for a small portion of the desktop market, it's had a problem attracting developer interest, according to the Wall Street Journal. Airbnb development manager Alex Davis told the paper that his company hasn't been interested in Chrome OS due to its small market, and he thinks the move to unify Android and Chrome OS is a smart decision. "Android is so ubiquitous and so many people are used to using it," Davis said.